What about using more than one enlarger?

[matti]

So we bought this new really large house. Not only does it have an awesome studio with north facing large window. But when we change our old oil central heating I will have a really large room without windows in the basement that I can use only as a darkroom.
I am sure I will come back for a lot of questions during construction. But for now I am contemplating to actually keep all my three Durst enlargers there. One 6x6, one 4x5 and one 5x7. All diffusion light source with color heads. Would there be any real benefit? Or should I at least get rid of the 6x6?

/matti

[pschauss]

I would keep all of them if you have room. I have a Beseler 23C which I use for enlarging and an Omega C760 which I use only for making contact prints. Since I have to fit in my darkroom time around all of my other obligations I find it very convenient to have one enlarger already set up to for contact prints. Since I use a slot processor for everything 8 1/2 x 11" and smaller, I can literally walk into my darkroom and make a few contact sheets in 5 or 10 minutes.

If I had a third enlarger, I would leave it configured for medium format.

[Bob Carnie]

Yes , a very real benefit.

This allows you to set up three negatives, test and work on multiple images.
I always work with minimum two enlargers , and I flip the prints back to back and this also allows for zero emulsion dings or marks.
Using multiple enlargers opens up many doors, allows you to dedicate one for flashing if you are lith printing. Also if you are having a tough time on one image but not the other you can concentrate on the first image , finish it and then work on the more complicated image.

thats just a quick start to the advantages for me at least.

QUOTE=matti;1358725]So we bought this new really large house. Not only does it have an awesome studio with north facing large window. But when we change our old oil central heating I will have a really large room without windows in the basement that I can use only as a darkroom.
I am sure I will come back for a lot of questions during construction. But for now I am contemplating to actually keep all my three Durst enlargers there. One 6x6, one 4x5 and one 5x7. All diffusion light source with color heads. Would there be any real benefit? Or should I at least get rid of the 6x6?

/matti[/QUOTE]

[Chris Lange]

Keep them. I have an Omega D-II that I fit a Chromega Dichro II head on that lives next to a Beseler 45 with a condenser head. For bitingly critically sharp enlargements I use the Beseler with an anti-newton glass carrier, and the Omega handles faster proof work and doubles as a dedicated 6x6/6x7 enlarger.

If you have the space, keep them, you can outfit them all with separate lenses, removing the concern that changing lenses will eventually knock something on the enlarger out of alignment. Hell you can even be like Jerry Uelsman, except he has 7 enlargers in his process line.

[Bob Carnie]

Actually I think Jerry had over 15 enlargers going at one time. each one serving a purpose in a photocomp line.

Keep them. I have an Omega D-II that I fit a Chromega Dichro II head on that lives next to a Beseler 45 with a condenser head. For bitingly critically sharp enlargements I use the Beseler with an anti-newton glass carrier, and the Omega handles faster proof work and doubles as a dedicated 6x6/6x7 enlarger.

If you have the space, keep them, you can outfit them all with separate lenses, removing the concern that changing lenses will eventually knock something on the enlarger out of alignment. Hell you can even be like Jerry Uelsman, except he has 7 enlargers in his process line.

[brucemuir]

Haha, I was going to say add a few more and pull a "Uelsmann"

[DREW WILEY]

My problem is time. Having multiple enlargers allows me to potentially clean, load, and focus several
negs in advance, so I can get to printing quickly. The different enlargers have different applications
too. I have two 8x10 units (one cold light and one additive colorhead), a 5x7 unit strictly for color
work (its in the cleanroom), and a basic old Omega D 4x5 colorhead unit, which is my workhorse for
4x5 and smaller black and white work. Now I have to figure out where to move the Omega so I can
squeeze in another 8x10 unit with a 40X60 easel. I won't itemize all the enlargers I've turned down
over the years. Wonder what I'll do with all this stuff when I get too old to use it. I'd have a dream
darkroom except for the fact it's getting too crowded (actually, there are four darkrooms). Bad habit.
Storing big prints isn't very kind on space either. But at the moment all the big ones have been sold,
so I gotta do something dumb like making a bunch more of them.

[Newt_on_Swings]

If I had the room in my darkroom I would immediately put up a second enlarger.

In your case three would be the bees knees

[ic-racer]

So we bought this new really large house. Not only does it have an awesome studio with north facing large window. But when we change our old oil central heating I will have a really large room without windows in the basement that I can use only as a darkroom.
I am sure I will come back for a lot of questions during construction. But for now I am contemplating to actually keep all my three Durst enlargers there. One 6x6, one 4x5 and one 5x7. All diffusion light source with color heads. Would there be any real benefit? Or should I at least get rid of the 6x6?

/matti

Some enlargers can be very 'fiddley' when changing mixing boxes and lenses and lensboards and negative carriers between a wide variety of formats. So, I found it nice to have different enlargers set-up and ready to go for certain formats.

[Christopher Walrath]

At the very least realize that you do not need to set it up if you won't use it. But I would clutch onto it all my live long days were I you.

Keep it light.
ChrisW